The Words and What they Meant
by serafina19
Summary: A word is defined via the Canadian Oxford Dictionary and then the word's meaning to the world of Chlollie is disclosed.
1. Wow

Word Summary: _"_In the end, every surprise, every _wow _was worth it."

_Sera's Scribbles: I do have 5 words outlined for this so far, but if you have any suggestions, please feel free. _

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**Wow**

_Expressing astonishment and admiration._

It was the word that was given, but never received, that secret first impression of each other, the impression that never died, even though the word itself was spoken only once.

It was when they first met, the word slipping from her lips as he walked away. Little did she know how he would continue to _"Wow" _her. Back then, he was an ambitious playboy, a billionaire dating her cousin. However, there was much more beneath the surface, something that she saw first-hand.

But more than anything, what surprised Chloe about Oliver was that he saw her, believed in her, even in her worst moments.

From the beginning, he saw her potential, her value and unbeknownst to him at the time, he gave her a new purpose, a new dream to live for. So while Oliver may have been the person calling her 'sidekick,' he always treated Chloe as more, regardless of their status. Friend, ally, lover, partner... spouse.

Chloe had to admit, she hadn't seen _that _coming either. But that was the beauty of magical champagne, and besides, it wasn't a decision that either of them regretted. In fact, Chloe wouldn't change a second of her relationship with Oliver. It took many twists and turns, but in the end, every surprise, every _wow_ was worth it.

**~0~**

He thought about saying the word for the first time as she entered the clock tower, admitting not only that she knew about his alter ego but also that his secret was safe. She was a reporter, a good one at that, and she wrote about the weird and unexplained, but the way she spoke to him blew him away. She knew about Green Arrow, the details and abilities of his team and it didn't bother her. It didn't even faze her.

Chloe was really one of a kind, as Oliver quickly learned that not all women could handle a secret like his. But that was okay, because Lois and him, they weren't meant to be. He left, not knowing if he'd ever return to Metropolis, but the eventual move back ended up changing his life in ways he could have never perceived.

As he spent more time with Chloe, the pint-sized blonde continued to amaze the billionaire with how much she was willing to place on her shoulders, how much she was willing to sacrifice. Sometimes it angered him, but their strong friendship held up against every disagreement or catastrophic event.

After Jimmy's death, Oliver was sure Chloe would never speak to him again, but instead it's Chloe who saves him from his downward spiral. He can't believe it initially, but after a while, he realizes that he shouldn't be surprised by her anymore.

Except he is. After some time, Oliver begins to notice the little things about her personality and behaviour, and he surprises himself by how much he wants to be with her. He soon finds himself saying _wow _for a completely different reason and it doesn't stop as their relationship grows nor does it pause because of the obstacles. Instead, they work their way through everything and find their way through the pain back to each other's arms.

Now...they were _married_, a status Oliver never saw himself enjoying until he saw the certificate in his hands. His opinion quickly changed because he knew that every morning, he would wake up and see Chloe lying beside him. Every morning, because he had Chloe in his life, he could think, _"Wow... I'm a lucky guy._"

**~End~**


	2. Grey

Word Summary: The path they have chosen isn't easy, as blood, sweat and tears are shed, and the moral compass is not always pointing due north. But they both know their intentions are for the best.

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**Grey**

_Of a colour intermediate between black and white, as of ashes or lead._

The world can be seen in black and white, but they had seen enough that the lines were quickly blurred. Black and white, right and wrong, they are concepts that held validity, but not always does good win over evil.

His parents were wrongly killed, her mother was practically forced to live catatonic state, there was no way this was what good people deserved. So their childhood, their innocence, were things they lost at an early age, and there were no signs of them trying to regain it. To them, the ends justifies the means, a concept that causes friction with a certain Kryptonian, but that's why the inclusion of lead is interesting.

It's the mineral that protects people from Kryptonite radiation, that helps shield Clark from his weakness, yet lead itself can be poisonous. It is also the only substance that Clark can't see through; fitting because they are the two people he cannot read. So while they're allies, they often don't see eye-to-eye with him, and more than once they have betrayed their friend's philosophy. Yet despite the fragmentation of friendships in moments, they find their way back to peaceful terms.

Because even Clark would learn that the world is full of grey, of shady business dealings, of questionable decisions. It's an aspect of humanity, but in their case, it goes a little further than they would like to admit, as some of their actions has caused bodies to turn to ashes. But they wear the guilt on their hearts every day, more than aware of the hurt they create. Yet they don't change their ways, knowing that what they are doing is right.

The Green Arrow was considered a vigilante, a thief, but he's a man that returns items to where they belonged. Watchtower on paper is a hacker, but she figures out information that puts bad guys behind bars. However, these are merely the names behind the alter egos of the individuals who have made further morally questionable decisions as themselves.

He couldn't handle commitment, so he scared away his girlfriends. He would betray their trust because he figured it would hurt less than the day he inevitably let her down.

She couldn't be honest with her husband, and her marriage imploded quickly after the disaster day itself. She wanted him to be safe, to be normal, no matter how different her life and her job was. All that time, she thought that it was best to lie to him, except when he understood the truth, he still loved her. But that didn't help anything, as he died seconds later, at the hand of the serial killer she had been harboring in her basement.

She thought she could save him, that he wasn't just the beast that terrorized the streets. She really thought that beneath Doomsday was a controllable Davis. She was willing to sacrifice herself for that.

He wasn't going to let her do it; he wanted to kill Davis before anyone else got hurt, before she gave up everything for a martyr-like cause.

Murder is wrong, he knew that, but he also knew it wouldn't be his first. He had gotten away with it, framing someone else, a killer. He really thought one more dead body wasn't going to make a difference, but she had reminded him otherwise, more than once.

He did feel guilt for what he did, but he still couldn't regret it. The world had been a safer place without Lex, and the world improved without Davis, even if Jimmy would be the one to take down the human, and Clark buried the beast.

Yet he never forgot her face, the way she told him what he had done. Hypocritical at the time, yes, because she had killed someone too. But it could have Brainiac, and to this day, Oliver doesn't know the actual answer. The difference between then and know is that he doesn't care now.

After Doomsday, he gave up on everyone, on everything, to save everyone from mistakes that he wrongfully takes full responsibility for. This is his punishment for his actions, or so he believes. Regardless, once his 'time' had been served, she reminded him there was something to live for.

But Chloe wasn't doing much better, as she continues to punish herself by giving up on finding happiness. She had her chance and she had screwed it up enough. However, he reminds her that happiness isn't that easy to cast aside.

The path they have chosen isn't easy, as blood, sweat and tears are shed, and the moral compass is not always pointing due north. But they both know their intentions are for the best. Even on days that go wrong, they are there for each other, reminding the other to keep going.

Because sometimes doing the right thing requires a person to get their hands dirty, to blur the lines. Because there is no such thing as perfection in their world, and if it helps save the world, they will sacrifice what is necessary to ensure everyone else can live another day, unaware of what they do.

**~End~**


	3. Insecurity

Word Summary: Despite the faith they hold in others, the lengths they will go to prove someone else's potential, whatever they do... it never feels like enough, and the failures hit that much harder.

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**Insecurity**

_Uncertainty. Lacking confidence._

It's rare to find someone who would associate this word with either of them. But the truth is, they second-guess themselves a lot, wondering if they measure up, if they're good enough. Despite the faith they hold in others, the lengths they will go to prove someone else's potential, whatever they do... it never feels like enough, and the failures hit that much harder.

Between the billion-dollar company, lavish property, and women falling at their feet to be with him, on the surface, Oliver Queen is a man on top of the world. Yet, beneath the million-dollar smile and killer charm, there lies doubt, uncertainty.

With power comes responsibility, they say, but it's more than that. Expectations also come with being the leader of a company, of a team, and that position has its perks and difficulties.

His leadership status could be a reason why mistakes fall harder on his shoulders and why he holds guilt longer than most. Then again, he also doesn't want to let his parents, or his team, his friends, down. So when the chips fall down without a visible sign of hope, the recovery stage is a slow one and it's rare someone actually gets him to snap out of it.

Yet she does.

He never asked for help, never expected it, but she gives it nonetheless. When she looks at him, she sees the accomplishments, the good he's done. She may acknowledge the mistakes, the downfalls, but she refuses to let him define himself through those events, picking him out of the gutter and allowing him to find himself back on top as Oliver Queen, back on the rooftops as Green Arrow.

To the rest of the world, Chloe Sullivan is just another face, but to him, she is the one in a million that gets him. The fact that she is far from being a stranger to insecurity doesn't hurt.

Part of her insecurities lie with her beauty, or in her mind, lack of it. Time after time, she was passed over, playing second fiddle to people in her life. She may have achieved her dream job, but initially, it was a bribe and a betrayal. Looking back, those were not the circumstances she wanted to achieve success. The second time may have endured a happier tone, and she even found a man who loved her, but it doesn't take too long before she blinks and it's all gone.

Her job. Her marriage. Her best friend. Her life.

All those years, she worked her butt off and it's led her to being a shrink to the city's heroes, all of whom had abandoned her. That's not to mention the two dead bodies and her best friend convinced that she wasn't a good enough reason to stay, yet her cousin was a good enough reason to come back.

The confidence is there, but it's superficial at best, as she feels herself inch closer to her breaking point. The words she spoke to Emil ring in her head, wondering if she's talking about more than just Oliver.

_I'm not sure if you noticed, but the people who are the worst of taking care of themselves are the ones the world actually needs the most._

He certainly was terrible at taking care of himself, especially then. Losing the man, gaining the caricature, it wasn't a good look for him. But Oliver wasn't alone, as Chloe was more than guilty of this. Get passed over enough, and insecurities pile up high. Eventually, she becomes convinced that this is her role, to be the sidekick, the fly on the computer keyboard who magically appears in people's lives when they need her, or when she thrusts herself into their lives. It's what she did with Oliver because one of them had to pull themselves together.

The team listened to him, he led them, but what Chloe never realized was that, in order to get their leader back, the team... they listened to her. But underestimating her overall worth had become second nature to Chloe.

However, it was something that didn't escape Oliver's attention, as he quickly figured out the whole scheme and gave her credit and gratitude. It was a team effort, but he acknowledged everything she must have done in the quietest _thank you_she had ever heard.

Her determination to bring him back, the strength in her voice as she dictated her belief in him, it was more than a lot of people were willing to give him in his entire life. So he worked every day after that afternoon at Metro Cafe to ensure he returned the favour, even if she didn't believe it.

After all, they were from two different worlds, and despite working together, Chloe never expected their friendship would change. Not when he came back to Metropolis for Lois, even if she started dating Clark soon after Oliver declared his feelings. Not when he flirted with Dinah on emails, even if he insisted they were casual.

Then again, she did wonder why he defended them at all. His correspondence with Dinah wasn't her business, she was just... Chloe.

Yet she scared the life out of _him_. One day, he would find out just how much he scared her, because he did more than notice her, he reminded her how much she mattered, even if it was only how much she mattered to him. That reminder, it was the only way that she was able to trade herself for him. For once, she had to believe she was more valuable than someone else... and it worked.

It's the way she shows him how much he means to her, which he reciprocates again by admitting his dual identity, hoping that she would come back to him. It didn't work, and there were days where Oliver would regret it, but when Chloe does return, and he tells her that he's accepting of what he has done, she informs him that he won't be alone anymore.

For while they may second-guess themselves apart, together, they know anything is possible. Including finding a love that overcomes obstacles and their own baggage to become the most real thing they know.

**~End~**


	4. Infinity

Word Summary: "It wouldn't take long after they met to build a solid professional relationship, but it took some time to find that strength, that boundless connection. But as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day."

Thanks to: hellzz_on_earth for the prompt. A great word, but a hard one not to risk being over-the-top with, so I took a different approach. Hopefully, it turned out.

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**Infinity**

_The state of being infinite, boundless, endless._

In a way, the symbol for infinity contains two imperfect circles coming together to make a different shape. Apart, there is still strength in each shape's composition and no point where the lines end, but they are isolated. So once they wind together, they create a stronger bond, share a greater meaning and represent one shape that has no aesthetic or literal ending.

In the beginning, one could not argue the strength that both individuals possessed. But they kept to themselves mostly, not letting anyone get close to them because they had seen too much go wrong in their lives. It's what happens when you take as many risks as they do, people almost believe that they're living with a death wish. Sure, they probably couldn't prevent an exploding safehouse and a shipwreck, but the rest was due to curiosity, a need to protect, or a need to blame oneself for something.

Chloe would claim the chances she took were necessary to protect the world and never second-guessed putting her life at risk to do the right thing. Yet somehow, life gave her infinite chances, but she would never understand why.

Neither did Oliver. Years would go by, as he tried to redeem his character, but he would continue to make mistakes, often falling into the pitfalls of his circumstances and reputation. Yet just when he thought he had run out of luck, something or someone would pick him up, remind him to live on.

It wouldn't take long after they met to build a solid professional relationship, but it took some time to find that strength, that boundless connection. But as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day.

Distance, time, even murder, it wasn't enough for them to lose sight of each other, the values they held, the effect they had on each other's lives and on the world itself. There were speed bumps along the way in their professional relationship, but they had found their way through that, leading to a completely different problem.

It was in their nature to care, to love, even if it was a different kind, but it was hard to maintain a real relationship with their job description. Even with each other, which is partially why they avoided the label in the first place. Being friends with benefits meant that the end would always be in sight. After all, relationships always ended up in tears for her, boredom or selfish-natured defense mechanisms for him.

There were plenty of reasons not to attempt a more personal relationship, but they pushed forward, ignoring the feelings underneath. However, the 'L' word is eventually spoken out of desperation, just when devastation hits them both. All they had to endure to find their way back to each other was torture by a secret society, a potential loss of sanity, and a hope that a cyanide antidote would save her life.

Then again, that was nothing in comparison to the challenge of staying alive in the time they were apart. They weren't like many of their teammates, as _human _wasn't a popular trait. Yet they kept fighting, knowing that if nothing else, they wanted to admit their love face-to-face.

Even as the storybook ending seems to appear, there never seems to be an end to the struggles that they must face. Even as they stand inches apart with their respective halves of a marriage certificate that fit perfectly together, they know the dangers ahead. However, they're ready for whatever challenge comes their way.

That's because the world can throw whatever it wants at Oliver Queen and Chloe Sullivan-Queen. In the end, they will always find a way to survive, to maintain their bond, creating a simple, yet eternal symbol.

**~End~**


	5. Masks

Word Summary: "Halloween, masquerades, it isn't the only time that masks are worn, especially in their lives."

_Sera's Scribbles: Not quite Halloween, and it's a bit of a rush job, but it'll have to do. This is an extension for a short drabble I wrote for a trick-or-treat meme for _ _**nienna87 **__last year. _

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**Masks**

_A covering for all or part of the face: worn as a disguise or as part of a costume. A respirator used to filter inhaled air. _

Halloween, masquerades, it isn't the only time that masks are worn, especially in their lives. At some point, everyone wears a mask. Sometimes it's worn to hide a person's struggle from the world, or to hide who someone really is. Sometimes, that mask develops layers, builds into a persona, losing the person inside, causing someone to forget his or her own identity.

That was the stage where Chloe was at, she just didn't know it. Her mask had built walls, an armour to keep people from getting in, a painless prison where inside her emotions lay. She thought it was better this way, to rely on the job to get by, instead of getting hurt again.

It gave her a necessary amount of air to breathe, to survive, but her life, it wasn't a life at all. It was days and nights of going through the same motions, until her cousin told her to put down her electronics for one night. Her intentions didn't go as planned that night, as her proposed 'fun' took an unexpected turn for the worse. Yet, somehow, things took another turn as she walked into the place she referred to as a safe haven.

He was a comfortable presence, a reliable friend and ally, and target practice was normal. By all accounts, it was a normal night. Except when they got to talking, they were reminded of the struggle they had been facing. So, likely to lighten the mood, he offered to teach her how to shoot an arrow for herself.

Pulling back the string, feeling the light tension in her fingers, there was nowhere she could hide as she stood there and he stood behind her, whispering words that applied more to their lives than the arrow in her hands.

Because the target wasn't the only thing pierced by firing the arrow that fateful night. Her walls, while thought to be impenetrable, had finally started to crack, and while it would take much more than one shot or gesture to bring them down, her mask would lift one day. She would love again, feel alive again, not because of a misguided mission, or an unrequited hope, but because her heart would allow her to, and this time, it wouldn't go unnoticed.

For he too wore a mask, although being accused of hiding who he was had stung a little, especially considering the source. Oliver was a leader, a friend, but he had to admit the bird brain was right. Connections like that, they took time, they took shedding everything he had to truly let someone into his life.

To this day, he wasn't sure why he offered her the shot. Maybe it was because it was something that helped him relax, and Chloe wasn't exactly the best at taking care of herself. But neither was he. In fact, it was her who pulled Oliver out of his funk, reminding him of the hero he was.

It had been months since she had ripped his mask off his face, destroying the playboy facade that he relied on to get by, all to tell him that his life had value. Then suddenly, he found himself returning the favour, re-igniting the confident woman beneath the distant shell. Whether it was physical or emotional support, he was there, helping her, and he could tell that he was breaking through.

He just didn't plan on not being there when she spoke those little words into a walkie talkie, showing the moment when she finally let herself believe that who she was... was good enough.

However, he would see her again, her mask taken off completely, leaving the woman he fell in love with. There were bumps and surprises ahead, but that's a typical story... and they paled in comparison to the struggle they had faced to get to this point.

Sure, the media may see them as a rich playboy and a nobody who got lucky, but they just see each other as Mr. and Mrs. Queen. And no matter what happens, they know who they are.

**~End~**


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